Two weekends ago, I wrote about the Kilmar Abrego Garcia saga. The state of play is that a federal judge in Tennessee dismissed the criminal indictment against Abrego, finding that the Trump Justice Department’s prosecution was unconstitutionally selective and vindictive. I’ve long theorized that the vindictiveness of the prosecution was related to vindictiveness in the immigration removal proceedings: The Trump DOJ has been using Abrego’s desire to be deported to Costa Rica as leverage to pressure him to plead guilty to the criminal charges — with the threat that it would send him to an African country, to which he objects, if he continues contesting the charges.
Now, Abrego’s lawyers have informed a federal court in Maryland not only that this is exactly what has been happening, but also that the new Homeland Security secretary, Markwayne Mullin, told Congress that there’s no good reason to refrain from deporting Abrego to Costa Rica if he’s willing to go and that country is willing to take him.
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